Prayer, Reflection, Activity

Being Catholic is very important to me. Learning how to be a better Catholic is very important to me. Learning leads to being. Each day there is something new to learn. There are memorials, feast days, solemnities. There are saints. There are prayers. Catholicism provides its believers with a beautiful detailed tapestry of prayers, writings, and scripture to help form a God loving and God serving person. Discernment is at the center of the lives of many Catholics.

Each day I am happier than I was the previous day because I pray a little bit more, because I have compassion for more neighbor a little bit more. Each time I attend Mass I am open to learning, to experiencing a little bit more of the liturgy, to see what moves me, what makes me want to act. I am not perfect. I still sin. I have not completely embraced the idea of the confessional but I do encourage others to go and I plan to go.

I am in a state of discernment. My route involves prayer, reflection, activity. I am involved in my local parish. It is through helping others, listening to others that I am able to see a need, want to answer a call for a need.

Discernment is an ongoing process. It is not for those who want instant gratification. There are different levels of discernment. God loves us. Discernment asks us to seek a way to reflect God’s love for us in our daily lives. There are different ways to do this.

The best way begins with allowing and encouraging yourself to love God completely with your head, heart, and soul. I understand that this is harder to do than it is for me to type. It takes time. Once you allow yourself to give God priority treatment, hearing God’d voice might become a little easier. There will still be distractions and temptations. Discernment is a human activity of searching for the divine, incorporating divinity and spirituality within our lives. Hopefully discernment keeps your heart, mind, and soul active seeking fairness and social justice as taught by Christ. Hopefully discernment provides a moment for reflection of the shepherd searching for the lost sheep.

This a time of discussion. A time of reflection. In a very private way it is a time of evangelization, a time of learning and sharing the Good News. Discernment is a time of establishing a relationship with God. It is a time of prayer for each individual and their community.

There is nothing new or original in this piece. Others have written about prayer more eloquently than I have. The need for discernment, for prayer still exists. All Catholics hopefully will embrace it to form more loving, more lasting, more loyal relationships with God. Discernment is not just for vocations. I would suggest that all Catholics employ it as they plan their lives.

Humility and charity are good discernment companions. On the darkest days, in the lowest moments remember that someone is always praying for you; you will not be alone. In someone’s heart there is love and hope for your wellbeing.

Being the Best Christians

Discernment and vocation are connected. Discernment is not limited to becoming a priest, becoming a nun, getting more.

Discernment is the process where each individual Christian strives to become a better Christian, a better person. Discernment does not stop at ordination or when vows are said. It continues.

Discernment continues each day of our lives as we learn how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

All Catholics are encouraged to try and be the best Christians who follow God's commandments and who create lives based upon the social justice teachings of Jesus Christ.

What is Discernment

WHAT is discernment? What is vocation? There is often both subtle support and jesting when discernment and vocation are mentioned into contemporary conversations between sporting news, political extremism, and celebrity scandal. This is a time where we are competing to play the role of Pilate, competing to find one solution, one answer which will alter our course, direct us on the road to salvation, the road to truth, loyalty, and service to God. Certainly there will be, that delight which creating questions and sharing these questions with unsuspecting friends and family members with the a dollop of giddiness and a dollop of hope before stepping into the beautiful yet still pool of despair where each unanswered question leads to suffering and pain, where each unasked question leads to rejection and ridicule. Such is the bondage of the imagination as it weighs this and that, imagines mathematical, emotional, grammatical, and typographical errors. There is only our belief in God to provide strength. Discernment and free will complement each other, affect each other. Discernment is not just thinking, not just reading a book, not just talking to a member of clergy, it is actions, it is movement, steps toward holiness, steps toward love universal, love unconditional. Discernment is a process of learning to be Christ-like, a process of wanting to be more Christ-like. The world is filled with philosophers and pundits of every kind presenting certain discourses on religion, on God, on economics; the world is filled with all types of diversions and wits. Discernment is a time to avoid much conversation and activity and to focus thoughts and hopes on God. Discernment is a time to deepen your faith, deepen your relationship with God. It is a time to allow yourself to relate to the ancient forerunners, both the saints and the sinners, and to learn from both of them. Remember goodness does not exist in a vacuum alone. Goodness is where ever you can uncover it. Discernment is a process of uncovering a personal truth, a personal desire to serve God obediently, lovingly, loyally. There might be difficulty, there might be uncertainty, there might be anxiety. Accept them all graciously, calmly. Avoid imposing deadlines. Discernment can be a time of beauty and grace and humility and mercy. Open your heart, open your soul, open your mind. Listen for God’s voice. Wait for God’s touch. Pray to God for guidance. The secular world will create distractions, things to worry about, things to corrupt your thoughts. Do yourself a favor, remember to put yourself into God’s hands, live on God’s Standard Time. Do not worry or obsess about your discernment. You may meditate on it. Allow your discernment to be a time of spiritual enlightenment and pleasure. Pray for prayer’s sake. Love for love’s sake. Believe in God. But each discernment is different, some are stately, some are playful. They all are often called journeys. And a journey discernment is; a journey of hope, of faith. Here is a time to examine private thoughts and desires, to make a private stand on morality which will lead to a public stand. Be like the ancient painters and poets ever prepared to capture and preserve the moment, the mood. Examine all of your loves, all of your dislikes, examine your Fridays and your Sundays. Examine your truth and your deceptions. But remember to always pray. And then pray some more. This is a time of ebb and flowing difficulty and labor. Do not despair. Remember that there will always be more questions than answers.

Discernment is a time of love; it is a time for communication and for a relationship with God to deepen, to flourish.

Spirit of holiness - December 19, 2010

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. Matthew 1:24

Each year the true message of Christmas is submerged beneath more hype, more consumerism, more angst. Christmas is not about giving and receiving; finding the perfect present; getting the best deal. There is so much hype that the real Christmas story is hidden from view.

The birth of Jesus Christ is important but that occurs after two very important events which are not mentioned outside of Mass.

What are the two events? What type of implications do these two events have on contemporary life?

The Nativity scene is very beautiful, very powerful. The entire story about the manger is gentle, natural, believable. The world and the time of Jesus Christ is rendered in such organic boldness that everything always is fresh when the story is told.

The two events which are central to this story concern Mary and Joseph. For the birth of Jesus to occur, both had to say yes to God's request. They both had angel visitations. They both had reservations. They both put their faith in God, complied with God's wishes. Both Mary and Joseph obeyed God. They each had free will. They could have said no. They decided to say yes.

The true message of Christmas begins with two people doing as God requested. The true gift of the season is their obedience, their faith.

All Christians should remember the angel visitations and prepare their lives for the tasks which God may request to be done.

Christmas can be a time of spiritual renewal if time is left for reflection, discernment. The presents should not be the focal point of this season. The focal point should be finding ways to serve God. The focal point should be saying yes to God. All Christians should be attentive, patient, and listening for God's call. All Christian's are asked to serve, are asked to have lives with foundation of charity, humility, and obedience.

Christmas reminds each one of us of the importance of listening and obeying God.

The true Christmas story is about the spirituality of two individuals, the simplicity and beauty of both their faith in God and their unwavering obedience to God. Their acceptance of God's requests fulfilled prophecy and suggested the foundation of a mystical union with God. Mary and Joseph together present a purity of heart, purity of obedience, purity of compassion and love, purity of conformity to the will of God.

The true value of the Christmas story rests in the lessons of preparation, renewal, and acceptance that the season offers when the spiritual needs are nurtured. Christmas is a time to open up each heart, open up each soul, open up each mind for God and for God's work.

Christmas reminds each Christian of the importance of saying thank you to God, of praising God.

The perfect gift for God is our obedience to his will.

Assemble and listen - December 17, 2010

There is but one thing necessary thing in life. That is to know and love God; to have God within your heart, mind, and soul; to have the benefits of God within your entire being.

It is essential that we learn how to approach and how to adore God, both during Mass and outside of Mass, inside of a church and outside of a church. Personal resources will have to be developed to seek and to experience divinity. We must learn how to detach ourselves from our possessions, from our thoughts, from all things which might be taken, all things which might be lost. It is important, absolutely essential to understand and believe what is eternal. Everything in life which is not eternal is temporary, simply borrowed. All those things which help us gain admittance to heaven are real, are beautiful when they are used appropriately for the glory and love of God. As Christians we are asked to learn, to adore, to understand, to accept, to experience, to share, to teach about God, about his love and mercy for each of us, about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is a responsibility. This is our duty. This is God’s law, God’s plan. When we follow it, we experience happiness, we move closer to God, closer to heaven. When we truly, honestly, deeply love and serve God nothing can stop us, not even death. The purpose of our Christian life is to develop a peaceful mind, to discover and extoll the presence of God, to discern how to better serve God. Being in communion with God, listening to and following his instruction is the goal. There is no reason to have fear. Let the love for God give you strength. Let it teach you to sacrifice, teach you to pray, teach you to love, teach you to live with the beauty and peace of the principles of fairness and social justice as taught by Jesus Christ. All moral thought and ethics will begin with love and loyalty to God. Let his will act as your guide. All greatness exists for those who do his work patiently, lovingly, gently. Being Christian means allowing and wanting God to dwell within our beings, our complete beings and wanting this completely and consciously. The potential for goodness, kindness, and holiness waits to expand within each Christian, waits for moral fairness, moral decency, moral superiority to flourish. A superiority of spirit, a kind of purity which is obtained and maintained by prayer and discernment is necessary when doing God’s work.

All of this begins with love; all is nurtured by love.

Turn to me and be safe - December 15, 2010

In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory of all the descendants of Israel. Isaiah 45:25

There are remarkable stories of virtue. There are remarkable stories of all types of journeys. Saying the Rosary is encouraged. Prayer presents images picturesque, inspiring. Silence can provide comfort. The great problem is sinning and thinking about sinning, and the solution is not easy when popular culture asks us to deny the existence of sin and to allow psychology and sociology to explain everything, to revise and reduce the idea of Original Sin.

The Mass attempts to give us new spiritual ideas and lessons which reinforce the simple theme of love. We are all refugees. We are all wounded.

There is compassion, mercy, hope.

We no longer know everything, having too much information, too much opinion and not enough facts. Trust is desired, but difficult to obtain.

Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves is desirable yet very difficult.

There is so much to think about.

Splendid discernment topics wait to be uncovered



And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me. Luke 7:23

Comfort, give comfort - December 7, 2010

A voice says, "Cry out!" I answer, "What shall I cry out?" "All mankind is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. Isaiah 40:6

Fact and opinion are often in conflict now. Intelligent men often use rhetorical tricks to help opinion masquerade as fact. There is so much anxiety, so much angst. Everyone is always looking for the quick answer, the easy answer.

Please accept these generalizations. The generalizations are true. Our society is always in a hurry to get somewhere, to approve a new wonder drug, to make a quick dollar.

It is often difficult to know what is right and wrong in our society because so many conflicting messages are sent. Christians have one set rules which theoretically form the structure of our society. But, society has watered down the application of these rules.

Being good is not always the most desirable thing anymore. Everyone is allowed to exist within an area of grey, neither good, neither bad flexible, ready to go either way based upon changing conditions.

Living in the greyness often allows and encourages modern life to speeds by an individual at such a fast, dangerous pace, that common sense urges him to slow down, to evaluate his decisions, to discern whether he is doing the right thing. The brave ones will ask themselves whether they are serving God. Discernment is a beautiful frightening thing. Looking at our lives, asking ourselves if our lives are based upon charity, humility, and obedience to God can be a frightening thing. Discernment can help us escape the greyness, the confusion of modern life.

Each individual should slow down, reflect upon all parts of his life, both good and bad, rough and gentle, and then listen for a soft voice to give direction, a soft voice to give hope.

Each Christian should allow and encourage his heart, mind, and soul to always listen for the voice of God.


In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” Matthew 18:14

When I Opened My Eyes

And so as my eyes opened this morning, my mind drifted between thoughts of goodness, holiness, and vocation. The wonderful thing about being Catholic is the sense of continual discernment. Our minds should always be directed toward finding ways to serve the Lord, finding new ways to follow the footsteps of Christ, finding new ways to challenge ourselves to love each other.

We each have the opportunity to do good, to live righteous lives if we allow ourselves to make the right choices, to move on the correct paths. Goodness often contains many difficult choices. Goodness involves evaluating each action that we make and asking simple questions like “Would God approve this?” or “Would Christ do this?” or “What would Jesus do?” Goodness puts us on the hot seat; goodness asks us to be accountable for our actions and our thoughts.

Learning about how to apply or to add more goodness to our daily lives naturally leads us to thoughts of holiness. Being holy is being a living part of the mystery of God, striving to please God, striving to inspire and encourage others to believe in and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Holiness is the search for the divine, the search for the beautiful, the search for God. Holiness is not easy; it requires an active mind constantly on guard to protect our minds, our hearts, and our souls from the secular world.

Holiness is difficult to describe; harder to achieve. There is a vagueness in the definition. Christians have an idea of what holiness is. We accept God’s mystery. Each Sunday during Mass we listen to Holy Scripture. We are encouraged to read the Bible. We are encouraged to make time for prayer in our lives. We are encouraged to allow our minds to be silent, to listen to the will of God. We are encouraged to create and to maintain our own individual private relationship with God. Each step in our lives should be governed by Holiness, filled with an earnestness and love for God. Our goal should always be serving God, pleasing God.

As Catholics each day of our lives should include prayer and discernment. Each day we should evaluate our progress and ask ourselves what more can I do in service of the Lord. Our lives provide us with the opportunity, with the responsibility to discover our own individual vocation, our own individual way to serve God, our own individual way to share the Good News with others.

There is a simplicity and serenity in life when it is centered on God, when it is centered on the life, teachings, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The Mystery of Our Faith

The mystical aspect of being Christian pleases me, creates all types of ideas and answers. The mystery patiently asks us to both reaffirm and rediscover it in our busy modern daily lives. We must remember the birth, death, sacrifice, suffering, and life of Christ. We must remember and believe the entire package. With time we can refine and improve our understanding. But, we must work to keep the mystery fresh and alive in our hearts and minds. This will help us treat each other with more compassion and respect. We must always nurture and renew our good-fellowship as we live our lives. Our faith and belief in God provides us with a wondrous solidarity. We must remember the honor of being his humble servants. Each day of our lives can be filled with discernment, attempts to be better Christians; filled new thoughts about our vocations. One of the advantages of our situation is that we can, as it were, pray for both questions and answers. The one certainty of our lives is our belief in God’s love for each one us. We must always remember this and remember to share our love for him. We should remember to always give thanks and praise to God. As Christians we must do everything the temptation to want immediate results. We must have patience. Prayer does have an usefulness which must be remembered and treasured. A moment or two of silence may allow a profound thought or solution to enter your heart or mind. As Christians we are part of a community; we must not forget this community in our prayers or our actions. Each moment of our lives should inspire us to be more devoted humble servants of the Lord. We are all here to support and to love one another. We must share our goodness and holiness with each other. Within each of us there is both God’s bounty and God’s splendor waiting to be shared. Within each of there is part of God’s mystery to be rediscovered and renewed.